This game is too easy due to power costs being too low

[rikmarkes]

Yes, the game is indeed too easy and electricity structures are entirely off balance. Due to this, I started a new city with a bunch of selected mods to increase difficulty (and some other features), and made a new set of electricity structures to balance a little bit power costs.

The mods I'm using:
- Hard Mode;
- Unlock All;
- 25 Spaces by Säaik Klyte;
- Chirpy Exterminator by simssi;
- Cursor Jail by Vider7CC;
- First Person Camera by nlight;
- Tree brush by Destroyer;
- Cope's No Despawn by cope;
- Zonable Pedestrian Paths by jfarias;
- Configurable Citizen Aging Speed by Nohealforu (set to 1/2 of default lifetime);
- Fill The Houses;
- Level Up Balance Mod by Nohealforu;
- PopBalanceMod;
- RealHardMode by U wat Mert?;
- Slow Trash Production by Nohealforu (set to 1/2 of trash production);
- Fire Spread by apocdev;

With this mods enabled, my custom power structures have the following stats:

Wind turbine --------------Build cost of 9375; maintenance of 192/week; output of 8 MW; cost of energy: 24/(MW.week);
Advanced wind turbine ---Build cost of 18750; maintenance of 480/week; output of 20 MW; cost of energy: 24/(MW.week);
Coal power plant ---------Build cost of 40000; maintenance of 1440/week; output of 80 MW; cost of energy: 18/(MW.week);
Oil power plant -----------Build cost of 110000; maintenance of 4000/week; output of 200 MW; cost of energy: 20/(MW.week);
Solar power plant --------Build cost of 113000; maintenance of 5000/week; output of 160 MW; cost of energy: 31.25/(MW.week);
Nuclear power plant -----Build cost of 500000; maintenance of 10500/week; output of 800 MW; cost of energy: 13.125/(MW.week);

I can tell you guys that with this setup, the game became really challenging. Really enjoying it now.

 

[Brabbit1987]

Yes, the game is indeed too easy and electricity structures are entirely off balance. Due to this, I started a new city with a bunch of selected mods to increase difficulty (and some other features), and made a new set of electricity structures to balance a little bit power costs.

The mods I'm using:
- Hard Mode;
- Unlock All;
- 25 Spaces by Säaik Klyte;
- Chirpy Exterminator by simssi;
- Cursor Jail by Vider7CC;
- First Person Camera by nlight;
- Tree brush by Destroyer;
- Cope's No Despawn by cope;
- Zonable Pedestrian Paths by jfarias;
- Configurable Citizen Aging Speed by Nohealforu (set to 1/2 of default lifetime);
- Fill The Houses;
- Level Up Balance Mod by Nohealforu;
- PopBalanceMod;
- RealHardMode by U wat Mert?;
- Slow Trash Production by Nohealforu (set to 1/2 of trash production);
- Fire Spread by apocdev;

With this mods enabled, my custom power structures have the following stats:

Wind turbine --------------Build cost of 9375; maintenance of 192/week; output of 8 MW; cost of energy: 24/(MW.week);
Advanced wind turbine ---Build cost of 18750; maintenance of 480/week; output of 20 MW; cost of energy: 24/(MW.week);
Coal power plant ---------Build cost of 40000; maintenance of 1440/week; output of 80 MW; cost of energy: 18/(MW.week);
Oil power plant -----------Build cost of 110000; maintenance of 4000/week; output of 200 MW; cost of energy: 20/(MW.week);
Solar power plant --------Build cost of 113000; maintenance of 5000/week; output of 160 MW; cost of energy: 31.25/(MW.week);
Nuclear power plant -----Build cost of 500000; maintenance of 10500/week; output of 800 MW; cost of energy: 13.125/(MW.week);

I can tell you guys that with this setup, the game became really challenging. Really enjoying it now.

Well over half the mods have nothing to do with difficulty, and some of them even reduce difficulty. XD

 

[rikmarkes]

The Citizen Aging Speed mod and the Slow Trash Production are there to balance the game. The death waves are absolutely insane and the way trash is produced by default just forces you to have ridiculous amounts of landfills and incinerators. The ones that doesn't change difficulty are there for the extra features, like I said.

 

[Brabbit1987]

The Citizen Aging Speed mod and the Slow Trash Production are there to balance the game. The death waves are absolutely insane and the way trash is produced by default just forces you to have ridiculous amounts of landfills and incinerators. The ones that doesn't change difficulty are there for the extra features, like I said.

What about the unlock all one?

 

[rikmarkes]

What about the unlock all one?

What about? I just opt to play in sandbox mode. Do you think that having to unlock it cause of some stupid milestones adds anything to difficulty?

 

[Lee Saxon]

I have no idea what you're talking about. I guess you're some kind of citybuilding deity. I have never had a fraction of the amount of spare cash you talk about having and power is way too expensive. The monthly maintenance per watt is fine, and I guess it could be higher, but the watt capacity per facility is ridiculous. With the wind turbines it sort of makes sense but the larger facilities, even the really dirty antiquated-tech ones, do not provide either the significant increases in capacity per facility or the significant decreases in cost per capacity which they should - some of them even cost MORE per capacity than the wind turbines.

 

[Brabbit1987]

What about? I just opt to play in sandbox mode. Do you think that having to unlock it cause of some stupid milestones adds anything to difficulty?

Actually it most certainly does, as it limits what you are able to do in the beginning. That adds it's own challenges. It's a different kind of challenge, but it certainly is a challenge. It's sort of like a R&D mechanic to some extent.

 

[rikmarkes]

Actually it most certainly does, as it limits what you are able to do in the beginning. That adds it's own challenges. It's a different kind of challenge, but it certainly is a challenge. It's sort of like a R&D mechanic to some extent.

Those milestones are some sort of tutorial. The game pushes you to the right choices given the size and other stats of your city. That way, milestones are a help, avoiding you to make an awful decision.

 

[medopu]

The Citizen Aging Speed mod and the Slow Trash Production are there to balance the game. The death waves are absolutely insane and the way trash is produced by default just forces you to have ridiculous amounts of landfills and incinerators. The ones that doesn't change difficulty are there for the extra features, like I said.

*tree brush makes you plop trees for free last time i checked. I hope it's fixed now.

I Don't want to cheat with free tree planting.

 

[rikmarkes]

*tree brush makes you plop trees for free last time i checked. I hope it's fixed now.

I Don't want to cheat with free tree planting.

Sorry, I just tried to make a valid point for the discussion and I'm not in the mood for troll feeding.

 

[Brabbit1987]

Those milestones are some sort of tutorial. The game pushes you to the right choices given the size and other stats of your city. That way, milestones are a help, avoiding you to make an awful decision.

Does it ....? Huh .. will have to actually check that out. Never noticed. I will take your word for it, but I think while some of the things might be that way, some of it is likely meant for you not to be able to use till later on. District Policies and such are a great example of this. I know some of them that would be great to use straight to start with and can earn you a lot more money than you normally would be able to.

 

[rikmarkes]

Does it ....? Huh .. will have to actually check that out. Never noticed. I will take your word for it, but I think while some of the things might be that way, some of it is likely meant for you not to be able to use till later on. District Policies and such are a great example of this. I know some of them that would be great to use straight to start with and can earn you a lot more money than you normally would be able to.

Can you give my one example of those policies? I never use them until I'm more advanced in the game, cause they tend to hit you on the budget.

 

[RebelBinary]

It's not the power costs that make this game easy, it's that everything levels up so easily, everyone gets educated easily and taxes aren't as big a factor on happiness. This results in more income than you ever need and little challenge in getting maxed out neighbourhoods all over the place, it all looks like a planned utopian communist neighbourhood.

I don't know if the game is too easy. Honestly, all the old SimCity made you do was run the game for a number of years at the highest speed when you were in surplus so you have enough cushion to survive the red ink that you have to endure when you expand but the new regions aren't filled up yet. That's not difficult, it's just time consuming.

I totally agree, the game shouldn't be made harder to get income and struggle to build anything just by waiting, that's not so much fun. What it should be is more challenging to get everything levelled up. That being said the current amount of income for larger cities is pretty overpowered.

 

[JetCity Gambler]

Responding to the OP, if it's just so ridiculously easy, why don't you just lower taxes to make it more of a challenge? Personally, I like having millions of dollars available to bulldoze an entire residential neighborhood to build a train depot that no one uses but that's just me.

Whining that "XX building is priced wrong" is just moronic. So make your own mod, with "realistic" energy prices, and see who bothers. Good luck with that, pal.

 

[rikmarkes]

Responding to the OP, if it's just so ridiculously easy, why don't you just lower taxes to make it more of a challenge? Personally, I like having millions of dollars available to bulldoze an entire residential neighborhood to build a train depot that no one uses but that's just me.

Whining that "XX building is priced wrong" is just moronic. So make your own mod, with "realistic" energy prices, and see who bothers. Good luck with that, pal.

Cause that's the same of saying "if dealing with traffic it's too easy, don't use highways or avenues". The game should be challenging by itself, not just by you hindering yourself from some game mechanics.

 

[MarshalN]

Cause that's the same of saying "if dealing with traffic it's too easy, don't use highways or avenues". The game should be challenging by itself, not just by you hindering yourself from some game mechanics.

But so far the suggestions have just been "make things cost more" or "make them do less" which is actually not very different from you lowering taxes yourself - it's just that someone else is doing it for you.

 

[Brabbit1987]

lol to me it's pretty silly to even complain about the difficulty in the game that allows mods. So what if it isn't part of the base game, it really doesn't need to be. I mean what is there to really discuss about here?

 

[RebelBinary]

lol to me it's pretty silly to even complain about the difficulty in the game that allows mods. So what if it isn't part of the base game, it really doesn't need to be. I mean what is there to really discuss about here?

What people are discussing is the base game is too easy and has to be modded or played differently to be challenging because it gets boring. A lot of us think it should be part of the base game. We want a "game" and a not city painter app it becomes after you start getting big.

 

[Brabbit1987]

What people are discussing is the base game is too easy and has to be modded or played differently to be challenging because it gets boring. A lot of us think it should be part of the base game. We want a "game" and a not city painter app it becomes after you start getting big.

And many people think it's fine the way it is. Which is my point. Since mods are available to make it harder, you really don't need to worry about whether it's part of the base game or not. It simply doesn't matter in the least bit. People seem to act like that if you have to use mods, it's such a big deal, when it really isn't.

Exactly how will your experience differ? You won't need mods? Ok? That's it? Except, even that will never be the case because you can't please everyone. So there are going to be some people who think the game is still too easy regardless, and will still have to use mods.

So please explain to me the importance of it being part of the base game compared to having to use mods. I would think mods are better as it gives you a lot more variation for the type of style you like to play.

 

[rikmarkes]

And many people think it's fine the way it is. Which is my point. Since mods are available to make it harder, you really don't need to worry about whether it's part of the base game or not. It simply doesn't matter in the least bit. People seem to act like that if you have to use mods, it's such a big deal, when it really isn't.

Exactly how will your experience differ? You won't need mods? Ok? That's it? Except, even that will never be the case because you can't please everyone. So there are going to be some people who think the game is still too easy regardless, and will still have to use mods.

So please explain to me the importance of it being part of the base game compared to having to use mods. I would think mods are better as it gives you a lot more variation for the type of style you like to play.

You can't please everyone, but since we still live in a free world, those that aren't pleased, can speak their voices and their thoughts. Why are you so upset with that?

About the capability of modding. It's true, we can rely on mods, but the game base is so retardly easy and lacks so many features, that people that desire to play a game and not some windows paint need to download tons of mods that we don't know if they are even compatible with each other. You don't know which side effects you can have when applying 15 mods made by different people.

What's the problem in wanting difficulty levels made by the devs?